Andrew Wiggins Named All-Star Starter; Morant Selected For First Time
The Western Conference starter pool for next month’s NBA All-Star Game included a big surprise.
Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was chosen along with Lakers forward LeBron James and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic among Western Conference frontcourt candidates. Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was also named a starter for the first time, joining Warriors guard Stephen Curry as the backcourt duo in the starter pool, NBA Communications tweets.
James will be a team captain once again because he is the All-Star starter from the West with the most fan votes in the West.
Wiggins was third in the most recent fan voting results among Western Conference frontcourt players but the fan vote counted for only 50% in the selection. Player voting accounted for 25% and the media also had a 25% say.
Wiggins is averaging 18.1 PPG. He beat out more decorated Western Conference frontcourt players such as Rudy Gobert, Anthony Davis, Deandre Ayton, Karl-Anthony Towns and Draymond Green.
Morant’s selection is much less controversial. He’s averaging 25.8 PPG, 6.9 APG and 5.9 RPG. However, Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell and Suns guards Devin Booker and Chris Paul also had compelling cases to be starters.
Suns Notes: Jones, Ayton, Sarver Investigation, Booker
Suns GM James Jones received a multiyear extension this week and the team’s head coach and players voiced their approval, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reports.
“I’m so happy for him, he deserves it,” said Chris Paul, who served on the NBPA’s executive committee with Jones when the GM was a player. “I’ve got a different relationship than everybody else because I know him personally. Been through labor negotiations with him. James is like part of my family. I think he deserves it, I’m happy for him and he should be in this league a long time for whatever executive position he wants.”
“I’m happy for him,” coach Monty Williams said. “Anytime you can hang around as long as he has, that’s a huge accomplishment. He’s earned it for sure.”
We have more on the Suns:
- Deandre Ayton is expected to return to action against San Antonio on Sunday barring any setbacks, 98.7 FM radio talk show host John Gambadoro tweets. Ayton hasn’t played since Jan. 16 due to an ankle injury suffered against Detroit. He’ll be a restricted free agent after the season.
- With the league investigation into owner Robert Sarver’s behavior still ongoing, the team is seeking to create a confidential internal hotline for employees to file complaints, Baxter Holmes of ESPN writes. The internal hotline is being created because employees haven’t been using the NBA hotline for fear of being revealed as a source.
- Devin Booker ranked fifth in the latest All-Star fan voting results among Western Conference guards and Williams calls it “laughable,” Rankin relays in a separate story. “I kind of laugh at the voting numbers when I see it at the bottom of the ticker and so many guys are getting so many more votes than him,” Williams said. “It’s laughable. When you look at what he’s done, not just of late, but all season long and the wins we have, he should be a starter on the All-Star team.”
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 1/27/2022
Hoops Rumors’ live chat took place this afternoon. Click here to read the transcript of today’s chat.
Our next live chat will be on Tuesday, February 1 at 12:00pm CT.
Anthony Davis To Return On Tuesday
JANUARY 25: Davis will return Tuesday and will be on a minutes restriction, sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Lakers face the Nets at 6:30pm CT on TNT.
JANUARY 24: Lakers star Anthony Davis is probable to play at Brooklyn on Tuesday, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets.
Davis had been trending toward a return in recent weeks and the club was hopeful he could suit up during its current trip.
Davis has been rehabbing from an MCL sprain in his left knee. The initial prognosis was that he would miss at least four weeks.
It took approximately one more week than that, as Davis last appeared in a game on Dec. 17. The Lakers have a 7-10 record in the games he’s missed since going down.
Davis was injured when LeBron James was called for an offensive foul for pushing Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels, who lost his balance and fell into Davis’ left knee. He’s averaging 23.3 PPG and 9.9 RPG.
His return is a welcome development for a team with title aspirations that is currently floundering with a 23-24 record. Los Angeles has dropped five of its last seven games, including a 113-107 loss at Miami on Sunday. The Lakers are in the midst of a six-game road swing and won’t return home until next month.
Wes Iwundu Signs G League Contract
Free agent swingman Wes Iwundu has signed a G League contract, according to Marc Stein (Twitter link).
Iwundu played three games for the Hawks in late December on a 10-day contract under the hardship exception. He averaged 7.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 27.3 MPG in those contests.
Iwundu spent his first four professional seasons in the NBA after being selected 33rd overall in the 2017 draft by the Magic. He was in Orlando for three years, then played for the Mavericks and Pelicans in 2020/21.
In 226 total games (16.9 MPG), he has averaged 4.4 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .408/.292/.750 shooting.
The Hornets waived Iwundu in October The Pelicans dealt Iwundu to Charlotte as part of the Devonte’ Graham sign-and-trade.
Central Notes: Bulls, Allen, Pistons, Bitadze
There have been expectations the Bulls will do something to improve their frontcourt depth before next month’s trade deadline, but that may be much more difficult due to backcourt injuries, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times notes. Long-term injuries to Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso could alter the Bulls’ plans, since their backcourt trade assets are now depleted.
“We’re thin there now, and we went from really having a deep backcourt – but our backcourt was never really deep this year because we were always dealing with something,” Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said. “It’s been a flux of guys in and out so we were never whole back there. So I haven’t had enough conversations with (executive VP) Arturas (Karnisovas) to really get into any details of what the thought process may be at this point and time.’’
We have more from the Central Division:
- The Bucks issued a statement voicing their displeasure over Grayson Allen‘s one-game league suspension, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets. Allen’s hard foul caused Caruso’s wrist injury. “We disagree with the suspension. We support Grayson and look forward to him rejoining our team for Friday’s game vs. New York,” the statement read. The Bulls, on the other hand, feel Allen barely got a proverbial slap on the wrist. Nikola Vucevic said, “The play Grayson Allen made has no place in basketball,” adding that it was a “very, very dirty play,” K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets.
- While development of young players is the Pistons’ top priority, coach Dwane Casey is weary of moral victories, Pistons.com Keith Langlois writes. The Pistons committed 22 turnovers in a six-point loss at Denver on Sunday. “We’re getting to the point, going into the end of the year and next year, where close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” Casey said. “It’s things we can control. Last 10 games we were fourth in the league in turnovers, 12 a game, and then we had this tonight. That’s what was more disappointing.”
- Pacers third-year center Goga Bitadze has received extensive playing time in three of the last four games. Bitazde, who hails from the country of Georgia, is excited for the opportunity. “For three years everybody has been waiting for me to play and waiting for me to play,” Bitadze said to the Indianapolis Star’s James Boyd. “It was frustrating for them and me as well, but finally for me to get these minutes and for people to get to see me play against the Warriors … it was a really good game for me and for my country.” Indiana has already exercised its option on Bitadze’s contract for next season.
Injury Updates: Payne, Crowder, Ayton, Gobert, Bogdanovic, LaVine
The Suns will be without one of their key rotation players for at least a couple weeks. Cameron Payne will be reevaluated in two weeks after suffering a sprained right wrist, Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic reports. The reserve guard suffered the injury on Saturday against Indiana.
Payne is averaging 10.5 PPG and 3.6 APG as Chris Paul‘s backup. Elfrid Payton will likely absorb some of his minutes and Devin Booker will see more action at the point.
Jae Crowder (wrist) and Deandre Ayton (ankle) also missed Monday’s game against Utah but are considered day-to-day. Ayton has missed four consecutive games due to a right ankle sprain suffered at Detroit on January 16.
We have more injury updates:
- Jazz center Rudy Gobert suffered a left calf strain in the late going against Golden State on Sunday, according to Sarah Todd of the Deseret News. “I tried to play through it. But I could feel I wasn’t moving right and I didn’t want to make it worse,” he said. Gobert missed Monday’s game against Phoenix but the strain is considered mild and he isn’t expected to be sidelined for an extended period, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets.
- The Jazz‘s Bojan Bogdanovic has a left finger avulsion fracture but can continue to play with it, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. The injury, which occurred against Houston last week, is a ligament that has been pulled off the bone. He can’t bend it and will require a splint for the next four-to-six weeks. Bogdanovic also didn’t play on Monday.
- Bulls star guard Zach LaVine returned to action on Monday after a five-game absence, James Collier of ESPN writes. LaVine was sidelined with a left knee injury. He had not played since exiting in the first quarter on January 14 against the Warriors after feeling soreness in his left knee.
Knicks Notes: Reddish, Dolan, Randle, Robinson
The Knicks acquired young forward Cam Reddish from Atlanta this month but there’s no guarantee he’ll be part of the rotation, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes.
Reddish only played five-plus first-half minutes on Sunday. He might be tough to fit into the current rotation unless injuries crop up.
“The one thing is just trying to establish a routine,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “When we were playing well, we pretty much had a nine-man rotation. But when I have opportunities to get him in, I want to get him in. … He’s working really well in practice. You never know in this league, you can have an injury and the next thing you’re in there.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- Team owner James Dolan will be paid a minimum of $26.5MM annually to remain in his roles as the head of MSG Sports and MSG Entertainment, having recently signed a new contract, according to The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov. Dolan, who also owns the New York Rangers, will remain the executive chairman of MSG Sports, the company which houses all of Madison Square Garden’s sports teams and holdings, and the executive chairman and CEO of MSG Entertainment, which owns the arena and MSG’s live entertainment business. His compensation is based on a combination of base salaries and equity grants, with the possibility to earn annual bonuses to be worth no less than 200% of those base salaries.
- Julius Randle gave Dolan credit for paying the league-imposed fine after shunning the media for three weeks, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News writes. Randle wasn’t made available to reporters for seven straight games and the league fined the team $25K. Randle finally addressed the media on Sunday. “Honestly, I appreciate Mr. Dolan. He’s great,” he said. “But the reaction was the team didn’t make me available. All I can do is my job as a player and the team didn’t make me available. And that’s it.”
- Mitchell Robinson missed the team’s game in Cleveland on Monday due to a sprained left ankle, the team’s PR department tweets. Robinson was injured during Sunday’s victory against the Clippers.
Celtics Heavily Involved In Trade Discussions
The Celtics have been extremely active in trade talks with the aim of improving the pieces around stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, longtime beat writer Steve Bulpett reports in a Heavy.com story.
President of basketball operations Brad Stevens is looking to at least improve the team’s salary cap sheet and free up more playing time for young players such as Payton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith and Romeo Langford.
The Celtics already made one move this month to improve their salary cap situation and reduce their chances of paying the luxury tax, dealing Juancho Hernangomez and his $7MM salary to San Antonio in a three-team trade.
Boston has been exploring the trade value of Al Horford, who is making $27MM this season and has a partial guarantee of $14.5MM on his $26.5MM contract next season.
Though Bulpett didn’t specify which other players the Celtics are looking to deal, it stands to reason that Dennis Schröder (a free agent again this summer), Josh Richardson and Marcus Smart would have the types of contracts they’d like to move. Richardson’s contract runs through next season and Smart signed a four-year extension last summer.
Another interesting nugget in Bulpett’s report is that Celtics had targeted big man Alperen Sengun if they had kept their first round pick last year. They wound up dealing it to Oklahoma City, which eventually ended up drafting Sengun and trading him to the Rockets. Boston shed Kemba Walker‘s contract in the trade with the Thunder. Sengun is averaging 8.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG and 2.6 APG with Houston in 39 appearances.
Jaxson Hayes Charged With 12 Misdemeanors
Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes has been charged with 12 misdemeanors in Los Angeles related to a domestic incident last summer, TMZ reports.
The charges lodged by the city attorney in Los Angeles County against Hayes include – but are not limited to – inflicting corporal injury (domestic violence charge), destroying property, use of force, resisting a police officer, and using force and violence against an LAPD member.
Hayes was originally charged with a felony after the July incident and was held on $25K bond. The incident occurred after police were called to a home where Hayes was staying due to a domestic disturbance. Hayes allegedly tried to prevent law enforcement from entering the home and the confrontation became so heated that a Taser was used on Hayes. Hayes was taken to a hospital to treat minor injuries and an officer also sought medical treatment.
Hayes apparently pushed the officer into a wall, causing an arm injury to the policeman.
During the arrest, Hayes claimed he couldn’t breathe. A probe within the LAPD was launched regarding that claim but the results are unknown, according to the TMZ report.
Hayes, the eighth pick in the 2019 draft, was out of the Pelicans’ rotation for a portion of this season but has appeared regularly since late December. He’s averaging 6.8 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 33 games off the bench.